An Upcoming Strange New Worlds Episode Is A Direct Response To Black Mirror's Star Trek Parody

An upcoming episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds looks like a direct response to a pair of Black Mirror episodes that parodied Star Trek: The Original Series. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3's teaser trailer hints at the crew of Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) USS Enterprise participating in a "show-within-a-show". Clips show Lieutenants James Kirk (Paul Wesley), Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia), and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) on a low-budget starship set, dressed up in retro-futuristic mid-century costumes. It feels a lot like TOS, but these scenes might actually be referencing Black Mirror's take on Star Trek.

In Black Mirror's season 4 opener, "USS Callister", and its season 7 sequel, "USS Callister Into Infinity", programmer Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) is an ardent fan of the fictional show Space Fleet, a clear stand-in for Star Trek: The Original Series. Robert imports sentient digital clones of co-workers into his immersive online game based on Space Fleet, and tortures them so they'll play along with his fantasy. Through Robert Daly's sadistic gameplay in a Star Trek world, Black Mirror calls out toxic Star Trek fans who have missed the whole point of Star Trek's idealistic utopia.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3's Show-Within-A-Show Episode Feels Like A Response To Black Mirror's "USS Callister"

Star Trek Is Supposed To Be Hopeful, Not Mean

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3's show-within-a-show feels like a response to Black Mirror's "USS Callister". Instead of using a 1960s Star Trek-style show as a backdrop for cruelty, like Robert Daly does in Black Mirror, Strange New Worlds reminds us that Star Trek's legacy is a net positive for humanity. In Strange New Worlds season 3's trailer, Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) describes Star Trek's version of itself by explaining, "We want to give audiences a reflection of their own world through the lens of fantasy ... you know, science fiction." In other words, the intent of Star Trek is to inspire hope.

If given the chance to play the USS Callister program from Black Mirror, I'd wager most Star Trek fans would save the galaxy without being cruel to our digital crew. Most of us have seen episodes like Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Measure of a Man", arguing for Lt. Commander Data's (Brent Spiner) personhood. We believe Star Trek: Voyager's Doctor (Robert Picardo) and other sentient holograms in Star Trek are people, too—so we're not going to abuse them for our own entertainment like Robert on the USS Callister. And Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can point this out.

Strange New Worlds Doing Its Own Star Trek Parody Is Admirable, But A Big Risk

Strange New Worlds Treating Star Trek As Another Genre Could Work

I love when Star Trek takes big risks, so I think Star Trek: Strange New Worlds parodying itself is admirable, but I know that's not a universal sentiment. Reactions to Strange New Worlds' riskier episodes, like Star Trek's first musical, "Subspace Rhapsody", have been a mixed bag, so there's a chance of alienating some Star Trek fans with Strange New Worlds' experimental parody. So while I'm 100% in favor of Star Trek getting weird, Strange New Worlds will have to tread a fine line between playing it safe and going off the rails if it wants to appease everybody.

Strange New Worlds has done a great job of telling original Star Trek stories, but I'm worried the genre-bending in season 3 will go too far.

 

 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is, in some ways, like a reverse-anthology series that keeps the same cast and storylines, but shifts tone and style with each episode. That practice has helped Strange New Worlds revisit and recontextualize Trek tropes like courtroom dramas and aliens-of-the-week. Having a mid-century space opera in Star Trek's past means that Strange New Worlds can, essentially, treat Star Trek like another genre to explore. Strange New Worlds' risks have paid off so far, so I'm excited to see how Star Trek: Strange New Worlds responds to Black Mirror's commentary on Star Trek fandom.